


Feel My Heart Beat

by thecadencerose



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Bindings, F/F, F/M, Feral, Hate, Hell, Immortals, Love, M/M, Magic, Markings, Pain, Punishment, Romance, Slow Burn, Suffering, Tattoos, Underground, Underhill - Freeform, Years Later, faerie - Freeform, faery, possessive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-03-17 04:38:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3515654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecadencerose/pseuds/thecadencerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For years after her return from the Underground, Sarah has dreamt of Underhill. One night her dream takes a different turn and a meeting with a stranger has her questioning what's real. "What do I care? I didn't even know I was travelling to the Underground. Can't you just send me back home?" The woman's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You should care because every night for the last six years you've been traipsing around the Underground; it is high time you pay the piper, Sarah Williams."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Dreamscapes flitted by as Sarah whirled from place to place. Normally she went wherever a stray thought pushed her, but tonight was different. As Sarah wandered new streets, an unseen force pulled her away. Tree after tree replaced the streets. She stared in openmouthed wonder.

“Precious, did you really think I would let you go?”

The words uncurled across her mind. It was a voice she had not heard in years. It was the one voice she thought she would never hear again.

“No mortal leaves the Underground unwatched.”

Mist wound through the forest she walked through while shadowed figures darted in and out of her peripherals

“Time is short. You won’t last much longer. One walk between worlds takes a toll; imagine what your years of crossing the veil will cost you. The Underground always collects what it is owed.”

Phantom hands reached for her, but she twisted away from their grip and ran for the edge of the forest. Another tug from the unseen force and the forest slipped away. This time she stood atop a rocky plateau overlooking a bone chillingly familiar desert. Strong winds buffeted miles of sand in all directions.  
\---S&J---  
Heavy knocks woke Sarah.

“Someone better be dead or dying.” She rolled out of bed onto the floor and flung open her bedroom door.

Toby stood with his hand raised to knock again. He cleared his throat. “Breakfast is ready. Karen asked me to come get you.”

“Got it. I’ll be down in a few.”

Upon her return from the Labyrinth, Sarah spent afternoons gossiping about boys, weekends shopping with friends, and put effort into repairing her relationship with Karen over brunches. Time moved forward and one day Sarah found herself twenty-two and looking forward to spending the summer after college graduation with her family. Toby’s laughter and sounds of him racing around filled the halls of their home. This afternoon she sat in the downstairs sunroom rereading Tithe for the umpteenth time. Years after escaping the Underground, Sarah drank in everything she could find about fae. She loved her family, but the only time she felt content was in her dreams.

Since the Underground, strange otherworldly faces and places filled her dreams. For every piece of lore she collected another facet of the fae world opened. Nights were spent gazing at strange creatures Underhill or strolling along strange lake shores. Sarah wasn’t sure if it was real or simply the product of her overactive imagination; she didn’t care.

“Reading again? Don’t you have better things to do? It is summer after all.” Sarah’s father stood in the doorway.

With a smile she said, “There is plenty to do, but nothing near as fascinating.” She stood and hugged him tight. “Plus, there is nowhere else I’d rather be before I leave in August.”

He kissed her on the top of her head. “I love you.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

  
\---S&J---

  
Toby and Sarah played in the backyard beneath fading sunlight.

  
“Tag! You’re it!”

  
It had been a perfect end to a perfect day in a line of perfect days. She had never felt happier or safer, that this moment: Toby was safe and sound, Karen wasn’t a step-monster, and she was finished with college. Sarah lay exhausted in the grass with Toby toppled across her.

  
“Sarah, come on; let’s play!”

  
She sighed. “It is getting late, Tobes. Let’s call it a day and see what Mom made for dinner.”

That night she fell asleep thinking life had never been brighter.


	2. Give and Take

Snow and ice frosted willow trees swayed in the light breeze. Slender framed pixies gathered around a bonfire. Drums beat out a rhythm and bodies moved with the beat. She stepped forward to join them.

“Captivating, aren’t they?”

Whirling around she met a black leather clad chest. A gloved finger raised her chin up to look at a familiar visage. His name rushed out of her mouth. 

“Goblin King.”

He gave her a once over before releasing her from his grip with a push. 

“Those pixies won’t welcome your presence; you’re better off watching from afar, as is the case with most untamable beauties.”

Sarah frowned. “Why are you in my dream?”

Jareth narrowed his gaze. 

“I postponed our meeting again for as long as possible, but now certain factors have forced my hand. It isn’t safe for you to roam around underhill as you have in the past, and I know you won’t listen when I tell you not to wander. Carry this with you while you visit; it will hide you from prying eyes.” He dangled a necklace out in front of her face. It was a crescent moon, but with sun rays unfurling around it in all directions. 

She gave him a skeptical look, but did not take the offered necklace. “Why do you care if I’m protected?”

Jareth hissed through gritted his teeth. “I don’t have the time or patience to explain the complexities of underhill politics at the moment. Wear the damn necklace or stay the hell out of my kingdom.”  
\---S&J---  
Sarah woke up with a headache. When she tried to recall her dreams from the night before, a blank white space occupied her mind where memories ought to have resided. Breakfast was uneventful and she spent another afternoon entertaining her little brother. They came inside to escape the summer heat and eat lunch. 

She was half way through her peanut butter and jelly sandwich when Karen came into the kitchen.

“Sarah, try not to wear jewelry to sleep. You’ll lose or ruin pieces very quickly.”

Through a mouthful of sandwich she said, “What are you talking about?”

As her step mother started cleaning, her voice carried out over the sounds of dishes and running water. “I made your bed and found a necklace twisted up in the sheets. I hung it up for you.” 

After Sarah gulped down the remainder of her lunch, she ventured upstairs into her bedroom. Sure enough, a necklace was hanging on the vanity mirror. 

“Well, shit.”

That night she stared at the necklace in fear of what would happen if she touched it. There was a knock at her door. Toby peered into her bedroom. 

“Will you come read me a story? Karen doesn’t do it right.” 

So she spent that evening telling her brother story after story until his eye lids fluttered and his head lolled off to the side in sleep. She turned on his night light and went to leave, but his voice stopped her.

“Sarah?”

“Yeah, Tobes?” she whispered.

“What’s next?”

“For you, sleep.”

“No, for the girl in the Labyrinth.”

“There was no next.”

He sighed and rolled over to face her. “There’s always a next time.”

Back in her room, Sarah climbed under her comforter and in minutes she fell asleep.

\---S&J---

“I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.” The voice echoed around the trees.

Sarah called out, “Who is there?”

Five feet ahead, arms crossed and brow furrowed, a man strolled out onto the dirt path. “I suppose you’re pretty as far as mortals go, but beyond that I’m not sure what he sees in you.” The outlandish clothes he wore distracted her: thigh high leather riding boots, form fitting pants, and a wide decorative belt at the waist. Above that his bare torso displayed black tattoos; the intricate winding designs captured her attention as they moved, crested and dipped across the hard planes of his skin. 

“Who are you?” Sarah asked.

“You may call me Roarke. How did you get into underhill, Sarah Williams?”

She frowned and took a step backward. “How do you know my name?”

Roarke grinned, flashing fangs. “There isn’t much that gets by me. You’ve been in and out of here for quite some time.” He pinned her down with his eyes and started towards her in a slow predatory walk. 

Panic rose at the back of her throat. “This isn’t how my dreams usually go.” 

“Poor, Kitten.” Roarke appeared an inch from Sarah’s face. “If only this were a dream.”

Unease crept into Sarah’s mind. A hand touched the side of her face; the scent of roses filled her nose. The world spun around her and Sarah’s eyes drooped closed. Roarke hefted her sleeping form into his arms. In the blink of an eye, mist engulfed them. When it dissipated, the path was empty.  
   
Sarah sat before a mirror. Attendants danced around the white room. They wrangled her into a dress and painted Sarah’s face with make up as they curled her long, dark hair. She couldn’t remember anything; a blank white space occupied her mind between then and now. She grabbed the nearest woman’s wrist and pulled her in close.

“Why am I here? How did I get here? Where is here?”

The woman shook Sarah off and resumed her attack on Sarah’s hair. Confused and scared she stood, knocking aside all the attendants she bolted for the nearest door. When it refused to open, Sarah darted toward the only other exit: a largewindow. As she readied to jump a tug on her arm whirled her around. Dust and glitter fluttered around her head seeping into her eyes. She collapsed. 

“Someone send for Roarke. Finish dressing her and then haul her down to the altar.”

\---S&J---

The sun had long since set. A pitch black sky blanketed over head. Her arms were numb, probably because they were chained overhead. Looking around, Sarah saw a white marble slab in the center of a ring of pillars, one of which she’d been strung up against.

“Finally, she awakens.” Roarke strode toward her. His tattoos writhed around like dragons in flight. 

“Cat eyes.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have cat eyes.”

“Dearest,” he said leaning in and forcing her to look up at him with a sharp tug on her chin, “It is bad form to insult your host.” Roarke moved into her personal space; shivers raced up her spine when his lips whispered into her ear. “Now, tell me, by what means have you been entering underhill?”

“I don’t know. I’m dreaming. This is all just a dream.”

“You should not have been able to cross back and forth for this long. How did you do it?”

The moment he laid hands on her something raced through her body. It was like that moment when you’re given an IV and you feel the cold sink into your veins, cell by cell, and you’re helpless to its effects. Sarah smiled at Roarke.

“You’re quite attractive. I love my subconscious right now for creating you. Although I’ve imagined better.”

His lips quirked. “Tell me about your first visit to our kingdom, Sarah.”

She frowned; she didn’t want to answer, but the words slipped out of her mouth anyway. “I ran the Labyrinth.” 

He nodded and brushed a curl out of her face. “What did you lose to the Goblin King?” She let her head fall forward; waves of her brunette hair shielded her face. Nausea coiled in her stomach and Roarke continued to pull information out of her. 

“Nothing. He lost. I got Toby back. I suppose I lost time and a really nice shade of lipstick.” 

“Is that so?” As he contemplated her answer, the drug lost its hold. Panic set in and her breathing became shallow. A knife appeared in her field of vision; she strained at the manacles.

“I’m ready to wake up now.” The chains rattled, but she stayed secured to the pillar. Roarke made her look up into his eyes and pressed the knife into her skin. 

“You want to wake up? Here,” he said. “Let me see if I can help you with that. ”

The first cut into her arm was quick, but the second and third burned like lightning across her skin. Sarah shut her eyes tight as blood ran down her chest. A trickle of unfamiliar warmth fed into the earth; it kept growing until the two could barely breathe and finally like a damn breaking the warmth flooded the air; Roarke's knife clattered to the floor and the warmth dissipated.

“Damn,” he hissed. She almost didn’t believe it when a familiar, male voice echoed around them.

“What have we here?” Too weak to lift her head, Sarah listened as his footsteps grew closer. “Roarke, it has been too long.” After a pause, in which he took in the scene, anger leaked into his words. “Not only have you violated our treaty, but the sacrifice you’ve selected bears my crest. Are you a fool or simply that audacious?”  
He roared the last of his words and the sounds of a struggle made Sarah force her gaze upward. Jareth had Roarke pinned to a pillar. As he strangled her kidnapper, Jareth spared Sarah a look. 

“This is the last place I expected to find you, Sarah Williams.” He let Roarke slide to the ground in a heap then unchained Sarah. Between the blood loss and numb limbs, she could not fight Jareth’s embrace. 

“I would like to wake up now.” A tear trailed down her cheek. Jareth leaned back and glared at her, which only increased her panic. 

“It is time for you to understand that these trips are not, nor have ever been, dreams.” Sarah opened her mouth to comment, but not before he flicked his wrist, and sent her back to sleep in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gimme yo' feedback.  
> Also, I'm in the market for a beta. I need someone to look over this work and my OUAT FF.


	3. Storm on the Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah can't seem to stay in one place as she attempts to figure out what is happening to her and how she arrived back in the Labryinth.

Sarah gazed out the window and anger coursed through her veins. An hour ago she’d woken up in a strange bed; her wrapped wounds ached and Jareth was nowhere to be found. However, there was a tray of food and change of clothes. When Sarah moved to leave the room, the door wouldn’t budge and her cries went unanswered. After a while, she quieted and moved as far from the doors as possible, which left her staring outside through a floor to ceiling windowed wall. Rain fell in small droplets at first and in a flash of lightening turned into a torrential down pour. The Labyrinth loomed beneath the heavy, black storm clouds. A glint far off in one of its distant corners caught Sarah’s eye. As she thought of nothing but escaping the Goblin King’s castle, a warm thrumming began within her. In another flash of lightning, Sarah Williams disappeared.

\---S&J---

Once Jareth deposited Sarah in her quarters, he returned to where he’d found her in the first place.

  
“You pretentious little snot,” Jareth said as he slapped Roarke across the face. “Do you know how many years of labor you’ve undone in a handful of minutes?” Roarke wiped blood from his mouth. “I’m going to kill you now, Roarke. Not only am I going to kill you, I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”

  
“You’re cross with me?” Roarke shook his head. “You’ve been lying to the kingdom. For years, you told us the Labyrinth was under lock and key. It is no fucking-wonder things haven’t been the same around here since the Labyrinth's last runner.”

  
Jareth kicked Roarke where he lay and took pleasure in the sound of pain that left the other man's lips. “That does not excuse the power sacrifice you attempted or your tampering with a mortal, particularly one bearing my seal. The punishment for such actions is death.”

  
“Except your Sarah wasn't wearing any mark of yours and she sure as hell isn’t mortal. She’s barely human at this point. I was just trying to keep you on your toes, Jareth.”

  
Jareth bared his teeth. “That’s majesty to you. I think I need to send a message that this behavior is not tolerated.” Roarke’s eyes widened. “I know you forced Sarah to soak up the oil from your skin, which is a separate offense on its own. For these crimes, you will be skinned.”

  
“Majesty, no. Please—I beg you.” The man cried out with his tattoos a whirl.

  
“You’ll have plenty of time to contemplate the future while your skin regrows.” Jareth snapped his fingers and two guards appeared. “Roarke will be staying for a session with Dante. Tell the Master of Secrets to take his time,” he paused and eyed Roarke. “and be sure to save some for me.”

\---S&J---

Intricate hedges stood stall on either side of Sarah. Butterflies rested here and there amid flowers and lace that wound throughout the living walls. The hedges went on for some distance, but Sarah didn’t worry. She simply wandered around taking in the beauty.

  
“As wonderful as this is, I’d like to leave.” In most dreams, this was the point she’d flit from here to waking up in bed at home. When nothing happened, panic tickled around in her chest. Sarah stomped her foot and shouted, “I want to go home!” Warmth filled her again, and she found herself spinning in circles. After a moment, she was steady enough to take in her surroundings; this time she had appeared in a statue garden.

  
A withered old woman emerged from behind a giant carved of granite. “Confused yet, dearie?”

  
Sarah wove between statues still wondering how she’d left the confines of the strange room. “What is going on? Who are you?”

  
“Call me Merry. Put simply,” the older woman readjusted the worn shawl at her shoulders and said. “You ran the Labyrinth and not only did you survive, but you won. This alone marks you as special, Sarah.” At Sarah’s blank stare, the woman walked a slow circle around her and continued, “Beating a challenge as old as the Labyrinth, and the Goblin King to boot, imbued you with certain qualities.” Sarah’s skin tingled as she felt the old woman’s eyes rake up Sarah’s body from her head to her toes. “You’ve been toeing the line between our two worlds; it was inevitable that you would have to choose one or the other.”

“But I didn’t. I never made a choice!”

“You’re being here says differently.” The world tilted on its axis. “My, my, dearie. If you keel over at every piece of news, we’ve a long way to go.”

\---S&J---

The guards removed Roarke and Jareth disposed of the tools he’d used to create the sacrificial circle. As he finished, the wind picked up and clouds gathered overhead. Alarmed, Jareth whisked himself back to the castle. He knocked on the doors to the room he’d left Sarah in earlier. When she didn’t answer, he threw them open expecting to find her asleep or standing on the balcony. Instead, he found himself standing in the middle of an empty room. He summoned his advisor and longtime friend.

“Atticus,” the Goblin King snarled to the daemon that appeared at his side. “Find her. Now.”

\---S&J---

“Last time I was here there wasn’t room for seeing the Labyrinth’s beauty.”

The two women admired a partiularly complex statue of two intertwined people. Sarah couldn't decide if they were lovers being ripped apart, or devouring one another. “It wasn’t always this way. There’s no telling how long it will last; this place is fickle and indecisive.”

“You mean it changes like seasons or the weather?”

The old woman nodded. “Temperamental as you or I.”

“Or Jareth?”

Merry’s eyes widened. “His name rolls off your tongue like something familiar.”

She shrugged and examined a statue of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. “Well, he’s only ever been Jareth, the Goblin King, to me. What does everyone else call him?”

“Majesty, Goblin King, Master, Savior,” she ticked off the names as she walked towards Sarah. “Realm Shaker, Wrath Incarnate, Vengeful Breaker—”

Sarah raised a hand to cut her off. “I get it; he’s powerful, scary, and mean.” She looked away and picked at the wrappings against her cuts. “Nothing I didn’t already know.”

“He’s all of those things, perhaps, but don’t overlook what he’s done for his people.”

“Which is what exactly?” Sarah scoffed. “What has he done besides cause pain?”

Merry opened her mouth to reply, but Jareth’s voice cut through the statue garden. He looked dashing in his tight, black pants and burgundy top coat. “That’s quite enough for today, Meredith. I think Sarah and I need to talk.” A gloved hand clasped her chin forcing her to meet his mismatched eyes. “You should have stayed where I left you,” he growled. “You should have stayed home with your mother, father, and Toby. You should have stayed where it was safe.”

For a moment, the only sounds in the garden were Sarah’s heavy breaths and branches rustling in the wind. “As if I’d choose to return here, Jareth.” His name left her lips in angry hiss. “I want to go home. You can go to Hell.” Sarah put all her anger and hate for the Goblin King into her words; just the same as before, energy well up inside her and she found herself whisked away leaving Jareth, Merry, and the statue garden far behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Leave a comment :)  
> I'll try to have another update done in a few more days.  
> Still need a beta!! email me.  
> <3


	4. Reflections & Perceptions

Sarah kept her eyes squeezed closed waiting for the world to stop spinning. Silence filled the void until it almost created a ringing in her ears. After an eternity, she looked at her new surroundings. It wasn’t much to look at: an oversized cave with a ceiling mirror reflecting a well-sized, water filled crater. There were no discernable exits and crystals on the cave walls were her only light source. She walked around the crater pond’s elevated edge; the sides were high enough Sarah could drag a finger through the water without bending over.  


  
“I only wanted to go home,” she whispered. The water rippled; the reflection changed to display Toby sitting in at the dining room table talking to Karen.  


  
“Good morning, Mom.”  


  
“Morning, Tobes. Where is Sarah?” she asked and slid a full plate towards him.  


  
Toby shrugged. “I knocked,” he said through a mouthful of bacon. “But, she didn’t answer.”  


  
Dad slid into his seat at the head of the table; the three of them chatted about plans for the day and plans for a beach trip in a few weeks.  


  
Sarah watched it all happen from the cave; she shouted their names and cried for their attention, but they ignored it all. When the family finished breakfast, Karen sent Toby to check on Sarah. As he left the dining room, he also exited Sarah’s line of sight.  


  
“Wait,” She said. “Follow him.” At her command, the reflection changed again. This time the view was from the top of her bedroom vanity. When Sarah didn’t respond to his knocks, Toby pushed his way into her room. His eyes widened when they landed on Sarah’s vanity mirror.  


  
“Sarah?”  


  
“Toby,” Sarah cried and threw herself into the pond. The water came to her waist and the aboveground reflection was gone, but she could still hear Toby. The wraps slid from her reopened wounds; blood clouded the water.  


  
“Sarah,” he exclaimed. “Sarah, look up!”  
She gasped; the ceiling mirror still reflected her room.  


  
“Can you hear me?” She asked.  


  
“Of course I can hear you. How are you in the mirror?” He frowned. “Why are you wet? Are you swimming?”  


  
“I don’t know, Toby.” Sarah craned her neck to see her brother better. “Is there anything weird in my room?”  


  
“Not unless you consider you in the mirror weird. Sarah, what do I tell Mom and Dad?”  


  
She paled and tried to think as a headache formed. The water had grown colder and colder with each minute she stayed in the crater pond; Sarah’s limbs felt numb and fresh pain lanced up from Roarke’s cuts. She needed to leave the pool, fast.  


  
“Tobes, I have to go.”  


  
“Wait!”  


  
“I can’t wait,” Sarah waded to the crater’s edge. “Tell them I left for school early. Tell them I’m sorry. I love you, Tobes.”  
With her last bit of energy, Sarah heaved herself up and over the lip of the crater pond; she tumbled and rolled across the cave floor. Her last coherent thought was of a warm bed and safety.  


  
\---S&J---  


  
In the same breath that Sarah disappeared, Jareth found himself deposited in front of the underground’s obsidian gates, Hell’s gates. He despised this corner of his kingdom; the layout drove him insane, the heat and humidity were miserable, and it was where he imprisoned the vermin of underhill.  


  
“I’m going to wring that girl’s neck.”  


  
Usually, he magicked himself wherever he desired, but several years earlier he had the underground lined with magic buffers. The tile transporter plates were the only magical way in or out of the underground prison. The plate on this end laid dead center of the entire establishment, which meant traipsing through Hell and its occupants. The idea didn’t thrill him. The Goblin King dusted himself off and began the long trek back to the castle. The whole way, Jareth contemplated the many ways Sarah Williams was going to pay.  


  
He felt the moment he passed through the buffers; it meant he’d crossed the threshold from underground into underhill. Immediately, Jareth popped into his castle. Determined to find the girl, he stormed through the halls. When he could not locate and choke the life out of her, he decided a break and change of clothes were in order. Jareth entered his chambers ready to rid himself of dust coated clothes and mud caked boots. Half stripped he finally noticed the lump beneath his bed’s silk sheets.  


  
“Well, well, Precious.” He whispered. “Time to teach you the rules.”  


  
He summoned Atticus.  


  
“Find Apocrypha. We need bindings for Sarah.”  


  
The daemon nodded clicking his inch long gold nails against each other.  


  
“What kind, Majesty?”  


  
“All of them.” He snarled. “Tell Apocrypha I need Humboldt Ink, the best of our malleable metals, and Arachne’s needle.”  


  
Atticus nodded. “Shall I tell her to start the bindings right away?”  


  
“No,” Jareth gave a feral grin. “I’ll do these bindings myself.”


	5. Blood & Intentions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my second update in less than a month.  
> Cray, right?  
> I'm determined to finish this fanfic.  
> Reviews feed me. So, pony up.
> 
> Yeah the chapters are short, but I don't waste words.  
> How do you feel about the chapter length and content?

  
The comforting sound and smell of seared flesh filled the room while Jareth sealed cuffs around Sarah's wrists; he savored every moment. Bindings were tricky pieces of magic. The most basic bindings were reserved for fae new to their magic. As teenagers, fae magic ripened and gained specificity. While the young ones learned their abilities and limitations, these bindings served as invisible reins and took the physical form of wrist cuffs, which were removed just as easily as they were created. Bound by these wrist cuffs, magic could not take action without specific intention and direction as opposed to following emotional outbursts and heat of the moment whims. 

  
Jareth felt they weren’t enough. Sarah’s wild, vast magic paired with a lack of control worried him. He bound her twice more. First, Jareth spun Humboldt ink; a myriad of lines and curves formed arcane images across the canvas of Sarah’s skin. With the design in place, he settled in to mold the binding. Humboldt ink was centuries old magic—sea and salt and creation magic. It commanded and demanded; even the Goblin King could not make it bend to his will. Instead, Jareth coaxed and communed with the ink. He made it feel and understand his purpose: prevent the destruction of his kingdom; keep the magic restrained; keep Sarah bound to him and his commands. The ink writhed and contemplated Jareth’s intentions. It spoke in his mind. 

  
_You desire control over the magic. We grant a way. You desire safety and no harm to you or yours. This we cannot promise, but we offer a safeguard to destruction._

  
It paused.

  
_You desire this one bound to you and only you; you desire this one willing and submissive. We refuse you this wish, Goblin King. We deny you this desire, Bender and Breaker, Ruthless Protector, and Schemer. We instead gift her as she chooses._

  
“What does she choose?” Jareth asked. Irritation and anger welled within; giving Sarah power was not supposed to be a part of the binding. 

  
_That remains between us._ The voice faded and the ink slowed its motions upon Sarah’s skin. Jareth sighed, but continued his work. He had one binding left: a blood binding. Blood bindings were old magic. Grandmother taught him about them as a young fae. 

  
"Sew the skin tight. Let the blood flow; this cements your magic and the bond.” 

  
“Do they feel pain?” He’d asked as a wide eyed child. 

  
“Perhaps. I never asked.” Grandmother shrugged. “In the end, it doesn’t matter. Everything is a means to an end. Cost is relative and irrelevant.” After that, they didn’t speak. She had continued the blood bindings at hand with her grandson over her shoulder learning and observing. 

  
Jareth threaded Arachne’s needle. He pinched her lips together with one hand and set the needle underneath her bottom lip with the other. Each drag of the needle sucked power from him. Nearing the end, he felt spent, but the kingdom was safe. Blood dripped down Jareth’s fingers. He finished the last binding; Sarah’s limp body slid from his lap and thudded to the blood stained, marble floor. Arachne’s needle and thread were still attached to her upper lip. Jareth sprawled across his overlarge claw foot chair facing the fireplace. He gazed into the flames. A burning log shifted and broke in half with a loud firecracker snap. 

  
“Majesty,” Atticus appeared at his side and looked over Sarah’s bleeding and bound form. “What do you require?” 

  
Jareth’s eyes drooped closed. His sore muscles radiated pain, and he didn’t have the energy or power to repair them. He sighed; every binding had a cost, and now he had to pay for not one, but three of them. 

  
“Remove her. Send her somewhere I don’t have to see her, somewhere we won’t cross paths unless I desire it.” 

  
“Of course,” Atticus replied. “I’ll be sure to have the bed readied and floor wiped clean. Shall I run a bath for you?” 

  
Jareth grunted. The scent of blood filled his nose. “No, I’ll get it myself. After.” Atticus bowed his head and backed away to carry out the Goblin King’s commands. Half way to the door, he paused. 

  
“She is going to hate you for this.” 

  
“I am a king; if someone doesn’t hate me, I am not doing my job.” 

  
“The blood binding—“ 

  
“Necessary,” Jareth cut him off. “She is dangerous: uneducated, powerful, and frightened. I can’t subject Underhill to her, to that. Cancel appointments for the evening. Send petitioners home. The next few days will not be easy. One binding is costly, but three—” 

  
“Three would have anyone else passed out on the floor, Jareth.” Atticus snapped. “I have been your advisor and friend for a very long time. I grow tired of watching you take these foolish, barely thought out risks.” 

  
“Keep the castle staff to a minimum,” Jareth ignored Atticus’ outburst. “You and essential staff only, Atticus. Now, get out.” 

  
After the room cleared, Jareth licked his blood coated fingers one at a time. It gave him enough power to push himself up from the comfortable chair and stay awake through a bath. When he reached his bed, Jareth collapsed across the silk sheets, unconscious.


	6. Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. Another chapter.  
> It is short, but I think it will provide some satisfaction.  
> ;)

Sarah’s eyes shot open. She threw herself off the bed onto the cold, hard floor. When she tried calling for help, pain burned her lips. A hand to her mouth felt bumpy ridges pulling in and out of her skin. Sarah scrambled to find a mirror. Pushing through the closest door, she found a walk in closet with a floor to ceiling mirror at its back. 

Stitches lined her lips; her mouth was sewn shut. At her wrists and ankles, mixed metal cuffs glinted in the low light. Anger flooded her system, and the cuffs warmed, but she stayed put on the closet floor. In her mind, she railed against the overwhelming helpless feeling coursing under her skin; she could feel it writing and twisting over her shoulders and back. The feeling flowed over and around her body, until it climbed up her neck and face. In the mirror, black designs bloomed on her skin.

_What do you desire?_

She tried to speak, but pain lanced through her; the stiches had no give. Tears gathered and fell. Sarah struggled to keep her breathing even.

_Calm, child. We hear you with or without a voice._

Sarah took a moment and thought her questions at the speaker. What happened? Who did this? Why did they do these things to me? Anxiety squeezed her heart and lungs.

_You are bound. Your Goblin King desires safety and control, so he immobilized you. We granted him much. We help bind you, but we will not destroy the balance. We ask again. What does the Labyrinth desire?_

She didn’t know how to answer. How should she know what the Labyrinth wanted? She didn’t care what it wanted. Sarah only wanted to be free.

_Freedom._ It rolled the word around on its tongue. _You desire freedom, so you shall have. Freedom of body and spirit as of old; freedom few others know because few can afford to pay the cost._

Images cascaded through her mind; she saw the paths offered to her, the many potential futures available, and the ones the speaker demanded as tithe, the cost of her freedom. It only took a split second; she would give anything, price had no bearing. Take it all.

_She accepts. A bargain is struck and yours to keep, Dream Wanderer._


End file.
